‘Unforgettable’ Rescued by A&E For Fourth Season

After getting canceled for a second time by CBS, it looked like Unforgettable was finally — and unfortunately — finished. But A&E has come to the rescue, making Unforgettable the fighter that refuses to stay down.

A&E has picked up Unforgettable for a fourth season which will consist of 13 episodes that will all air later this year. Starring Poppy Montgomery and Dylan Walsh, the crime procedural centers on a detective with hyperthymesia, an unusually specific and photographic recall memory. Both Montgomery and Walsh are expected to return, as will series creators/executive producers John Bellucci and Ed Redlich, and co-executive producers Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly. The series has now survived two cancellations, which is at least one more cancellation than most shows ever get to survive. Although, in this new age of cable and online networks picking up failed network shows, and broadcast networks reviving their own dead franchises, I doubt Unforgettable will be the last to pull off this survival trick.

Ultimately, this now makes Unforgettable the third scripted original dramas on the programming schedule after Bates Motel and the hotly-anticipated The Returned. Of course, it would have been four had they not cancelled the popular Longmire, but the network didn’t see the advertising value in having an audience that skewed that old, so Netflix was all too happy to step in and pick up the show, considering it doesn’t have to kowtow to advertisers. It remains to be seen if A&E will continue its initiative towards more original, scripted programming, or if it will end up adding more reality shows in the model of Duck Dynasty, Wahlburgers and Donnie Loves Jenny. But here’s hoping it’s more of the former and less of the latter.